34
MAGYAR KÉTFARKÚ KUTYA PÁRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT
not necessarily associate themselves with the opinions expressed in the
works they publish, participate in the exercise of freedom of expression by
providing authors with a medium (see Öztürk v. Turkey [GC],
no. 22479/93, § 49, ECHR 1999-VI). In the context of new media, the Court
has previously held that a Google service designed to facilitate the creation
and sharing of websites within a group constituted a means of exercising
freedom of expression (see Ahmet Yıldırım, cited above, § 49). Similarly, a
video-hosting website represented an important means of exercising the
freedom to receive and impart information and ideas. The blocking of these
services was found to deprive users of a significant means of exercising
their right to freedom to receive and impart information and ideas (see
Cengiz and Others v. Turkey, nos. 48226/10 and 14027/11, § 54, ECHR
2015 (extracts)). In a similar vein, the running by the applicants of a website
which made it possible for users to share digital material such as movies,
music and computer games was considered as putting in place the means for
others to impart and receive information within the meaning of Article 10 of
the Convention. The applicants’ conviction for putting in place a means of
disseminating information was therefore held to constitute interference with
the right to freedom of expression (see Neij and Sunde Kolmisoppi
v. Sweden (dec.), no. 40397/12, 19 February 2013).
88. In line with the approach in this line of case-law, the Court accepts
that the mobile application was a means put in place by the MKKP for
voters to impart their political opinions, allowing them to exercise their
right to freedom of expression.
89. In addition, the Court notes that in the course of the domestic
proceedings the authorities held that providing voters with a mobile
application and calling on them to upload and publish photographs of ballot
papers, and encouraging them to cast an invalid ballot could be regarded as
a campaigning activity as it was likely to influence voters’ choices (see
paragraph 27 above). The Court sees no reason to call into question the
domestic authorities’ interpretation of the MKKP’s conduct. It considers
that the MKKP was seeking not only to provide a forum for voters to
express their opinion, but also to convey a political message itself. Given
the context – the time of a national referendum – and the name of the
application – “Cast an invalid ballot” – the operation of this mobile
application is to be regarded as an expression of the MKKP’s political
opinion on the referendum in question.
90. The Court further observes that the MKKP claimed that it had been
penalised not for carrying out campaigning activity as such, but for doing so
through the mobile application in question (see paragraphs 26-27 above). As
the Court has consistently held, the protection of Article 10 extends not only
to the substance of the ideas and information expressed but also to the form
in which they are conveyed (see Jersild v. Denmark, 23 September 1994,